Lancaster Farms - Sensor Web 3.0
We partnered with the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon
University and Lancaster Farms in Virginia to move Sensor Web
technology beyond Southern California. In a bold experiment, we
shipped a Sensor Web to Lancaster Farms to determine if new users
could set it up without prior training or instruction. The test was
a success; on October 23, 2001, an eight-pod Sensor Web began
running. The pods used in this field experiment are of the same
design as in other Sensor Web 3.0 deployments. Each pod measures
light levels, air temperature and humidity, with optional
measurements of soil temperature and soil moisture. In addition,
battery levels for each pod can be monitored for diagnostic
purposes.

This deployment also tested the technology in an outdoor
environment very different from previous deployments. In addition,
8 months into the test, additional pods were added to the Sensor
Web thereby demonstrating that this measuring technique is
spatially expandable during long-term monitoring.

This Sensor Web operated continually for 19 months (October 2001 to
April 2003) in the open fields before being used to monitor
greenhouses. The hardware still functions despite long exposure to
the elements, clearly demonstrating the robustness of the Sensor
Web 3.0 pod design.